File Specs

Getting size, resolution, bleed and colour mode right up front — the details that are cheap to set and expensive to fix.

When creating a design, it’s essential to define your file specifications from the start. The requirements differ depending on whether your work is intended for print or digital, and choosing the wrong size or resolution can affect the final quality of your project. For this reason, it’s a good idea to include the required specs directly in your Design Brief.

Designs are often needed in multiple formats, so specifying this upfront can save a lot of time. For example, if print-ready files are required, you’ll need higher resolution assets, which may require sourcing additional images or graphics. Having this information early ensures that concepts are delivered correctly the first time, avoiding last-minute adjustments and rework.

One idea, four different shapes and sizesThe same simple composition drawn in four formats at genuinely different proportions and heights: a tall A4 flyer, a slightly shorter Instagram portrait, a smaller square post, and the tallest and narrowest of all, an Instagram story. They stand on a common baseline so the differences in both width and height are obvious.ONE IDEA, FOUR SHAPESA4 flyer210 × 297 mmInstagram portrait1080 × 1350 pxInstagram square1080 × 1080 pxInstagram story1080 × 1920 px
Drawn at their true proportions, standing on a common baseline so the differences in height show too. A square gives you room either side of the headline; a story gives you almost none of that and a great deal of height instead. The same idea has to be re-composed for each shape, not just re-scaled.

Digital vs print. Digital designs are measured in pixels, and resolution is usually 72–150 Dots per inch. How many dots of ink a printer lays down in an inch — the print equivalent of PPI (pixels per inch) on screen. The higher the number, the finer the detail. 300 dpi is the print standard; 72 dpi is plenty for screens.. Common digital projects include social media posts, website graphics, online ads, and email banners. For print, files are sized in millimetres or centimetres, and resolution should be 300 dpi to ensure crisp, professional output. Print projects include brochures, flyers, posters, packaging, and signage.

More detail on resolution and why it matters — how to check an image, what its file size tells you, and why you can size down but never up.

Get the sheet →

It’s also important to determine whether a print item is single-sided or double-sided, as this will directly influence your file setup. For folded items, such as brochures, this information affects how you set up rulers and guides to indicate fold lines. We’ll go into more detail on this later, but keeping it in mind from the start will make your design process much smoother.

Knowing the formats before you start changes the design itself, not just the export settings. A headline that works across a square post has to break differently in a story; an image with the subject dead centre survives a crop to portrait, one with the subject at the edge does not. Design for the shapes you actually need and you compose once. Find out afterwards and you rebuild.

Using Canva presets. Canva offers a wide range of presets for both print and digital projects. These presets automatically set the correct dimensions, but you can also enter custom specs based on your project brief for things like print advertising.

Adding bleed (print only)

If your design is destined for a professional printer (ads, brochures, signage, etc.), adding bleed ensures the background of your design extends beyond the edge of the canvas, so no white edges appear when trimmed.

What is bleed? Bleed is extra space, usually 3 mm, around each edge of your design. It’s common for third-party advertisers or printers to request files with bleed.

Bleed — artwork runs past the edge
Trim — where the blade lands

3 mm on every edge is the standard ask. Nothing you actually need to read should sit out there — it is going to be cut off, which is the whole point of it.

Crop marks indicate where the document will be trimmed. Bleed and crop marks are only needed for files going to professional printers or third-party print advertisers — a magazine, for instance.

You do not need bleed for the office printer. An office printer doesn’t print right to the edge of the page. A professional printer does the opposite: it prints a margin over the page edge and then trims it off. That overflow is the bleed — an allowance that gets cut away.

When exporting files from Canva, it’s important to export them with the intended purpose in mind. For digital use, a PNG file will remain in Red, Green, Blue. How screens make colour, by mixing light. Start with black and add light to get white. Screens can show brighter, more luminous colours than ink can — which is why a vivid on-screen design can look flat once printed. Use RGB for anything digital. colour mode, which is ideal for screens. For print, select “PDF for print”, which uses Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Key (black). How printers make colour, by mixing ink on white paper. Start with white and add ink to get black. It is the smaller range of the two, so convert before you print rather than letting the printer guess. Use CMYK for anything going to print. colour mode. We’ll cover colour theory and the differences between the two in more detail later.

Dielines

A dieline shows the exact path a printer will use to cut your design into a custom shape — a circle, an oval, or anything else. This includes collateral such as box packaging or labels.

What a dieline is An arch-topped label. The artwork extends past the shape as bleed, and a magenta line marks the exact path the printer cuts. The magenta line itself does not print. Your artwork runs past the cut line The dieline the exact path the cutter takes Bleed Drawn in magenta by convention so nobody mistakes it for artwork. It is a production guide only — the line never appears on the finished piece.
A dieline for an arch-topped label. The artwork runs past the cut so the trim can never expose a white edge.
  • Dielines are typically shown in magenta/pink in design files so they stand out
  • The dieline itself does not print — it’s just a production guide
  • For designs with curved edges (like round stickers), a printer will usually add the dieline and appropriate bleed for you using the Adobe suite. Canva cannot create dielines, so request pre-press assistance when submitting your file or concept.

Common specs

Digital

  • Instagram post (square): 1080 × 1080 px — 1:1
  • Instagram post (portrait): 1080 × 1350 px — 4:5, the shape Instagram now favours in the feed
  • Instagram post (landscape): 1080 × 566 px — 1.91:1
  • Instagram story or reel: 1080 × 1920 px — 9:16
  • Facebook cover: 820 × 312 px
  • YouTube thumbnail: 1280 × 720 px

Print

  • A3 / A4 / A5 presets for flyers, posters and documents (plus 3 mm bleed if going to a professional printer). Single or double sided.
  • Tri-fold brochure: A4, folded to 210 × 297 mm, 3 mm bleed. Double sided.
  • Business card (NZ): 90 × 55 mm, 3 mm bleed. Double or single sided.
  • Print advertising: custom, often requiring bleed.

Using the correct specs ensures your design displays sharply and looks professional across every platform.

Assignment 01 · continued

Add your File Specs

We’re still building the Design Brief you started earlier. Use your own project, or carry on with the Evergreen Wellness scenario below.

Using the mock scenario? Evergreen Wellness is the fictitious business introduced back in The Design Brief — the workshop dates, the audience, the location and the contact details are all in there.

Open the scenario ↗
Step 3: Add your file specs

Add the technical detail for each format you need:

  • Size — for example A4, or 1080 × 1350 px for an Instagram portrait post
  • Resolution and colour mode — digital: 72 dpi, RGB. Print: 300 dpi, CMYK
  • Bleed and crop marks if required — 3 mm when going to a professional printer
  • File type — PNG, PDF, and so on

Evergreen Wellness needs an A4 flyer with 3 mm bleed, for full-colour professional printing, as they don’t have an office printer at the studio. They’d also like an Instagram post design.